Growing Storm
by Circe and Artemis
Summary: Harry Potter did not show up on his first day of school. When the wizarding world thought him lost, who is the young man that Professor Snape has found?


Disclaimer: I will only say this once. I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I J.K. Rowling. With that being said, on with the story.

Growing Storm

Chapter 1

Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore looked over the Great Hall with a sense of unease. There seemed to be too many students this night, and he pondered this thought for a few minutes before he realized what was different. The Rover children were present, though they usually came to school the next morning. His fingers twitched as the wards surrounding Hogwarts informed him that his missing professor had brought someone with him, and this guest was very powerful. He frowned down at his dinner as the professor sitting next to him looked at him with concern.

"Albus, are you alright? You don't look so well."

"I am fine, Minerva, just worried. Hogwarts just informed me that Severus has finally arrived and he seems to have brought a guest with him. The wards don't register the Dark Mark, but I am worried none the less."

"Well, worrying will get you nowhere and the students are starting to get a little uneasy themselves what with you glowering at your dinner and all. The Sorting is finished and the first years are starting to wonder—"

_**Bang**_

Every head in the Great Hall swung to look at the doors as they flew open and crashed into the walls. Professor Snape stood in the doorway with a young man who was watching everything with a jaded eye.

"I beg your pardon, Headmaster, for being late, but there was a matter that required my immediate attention today. I have brought a student who will need to be Sorted as soon as possible. He will be transferred into seventh year once we know what House he belongs to."

The professor stepped to the side, and the young man behind him glided forward until the rest of the school could see him. He was almost as tall as Professor Snape with tan skin and whipcord muscles on his almost too-thin body. His midnight hair hung almost to his waist in a thick, silky sheet that did little to hide the two hilts on his shoulders. He was dressed in lose black clothing and although he was barefoot, he didn't seem to be fazed by the cool of the Hall. His emerald eyes scanned the students and teachers as he stepped forward.

"I'm sorry for intruding at this time, Headmaster, but it seems that I never received the letter that was sent to me."

"That is quite alright, my boy. Sometimes things like that happen, and in the end they do get corrected. Now, let's see about getting you Sorted. Minerva, if you would?"

As the professor next to him made her way to a side room, Dumbledore's mind was racing. There was only one student in the correct age group that had not arrived on the first night before school, but that was impossible. When he had missed that first night, several of the professors had visited his Muggle relatives and discovered that he had been abandoned years before. There was no way he could have survived, was there? As Minerva re-entered the Hall, the young man glided up towards the Head Table with Professor Snape following behind. The young man waited for Minerva to set out the stool before he sat down, and he tensed as she placed the Hat on his head.

"_So it seems that you have finally arrived at Hogwarts. We have been waiting for you."_

"_We? I assume that you are including the castle in that statement as there is only one of you."_

"_Indeed. Welcome to school, Rover King. May your children welcome you home."_

The Headmaster started as he felt the wards slip out of his grasp and converge on the young man under the Hat. He lost contact with them when that Hat called out his answer.

"Hogwarts!"

The teaching staff gaped at the Hat in shock. That was not the answer that they were expecting by a long shot. The students tittered among themselves as the teachers did a remarkable impression of goldfish. The young man removed that Hat from his head while promising to visit sometime, and Professor Snape joined him.

"Dumbledore, this young man displays attributes of all four Houses in equal proportions. He will not belong to simply one House; he will belong to all Houses for so long as he chooses to stay. He is to be welcomed wherever he should choose to make his home."

The Hall fell silent as the students looked at the Hat. The teachers finally managed to shake off their shock and were trying to put themselves back together with some semblance of dignity.

"What is your name, my boy?"

"My name? I think that I should let someone else answer that. Leaf! Trinket! Why don't you tell the nice old man who I am."

A boy from Ravenclaw and a girl from Slytherin stood up from their tables.

"Bloo'y 'ell! What'd yeh pi' us for! Annie's sittin' not four feet from yeh!"

"Because you two need to learn that all pranks will be punished in one way or another. Now, would you rather be serving latrine duty back at camp?"

The two winced and shook their heads.

"Fine, fine… Professor Dumbledore sir? We are proud to introduce Shade, the King of Rovers, also known as - drum roll please - Harry Potter!"

"Leaf! I wanted t' say i', yeh snake!"

"So? I did it now-"

_**Thump**_

The two bickering students turned to look at the Headmaster who had just fainted.

"Leaf! Now loo' what yeh did!"

"I didn't do it, blame Shade!"

"Tha's a brill'nt idea! Shade! Now loo' wha' yeh did!"

Shade just laughed at the children's antics.

"My children come to me, please."

Fully one-fifth of the student population surged to where Shade was standing.

"Hey Shade! How's me mum doin'?"

"How are Gem and Glass?"

"How long are you here for?"

"Everyone hold on! I can't talk over all of you!"

After the group had quieted down, he continued speaking.

"Your mum got a full bill of health yesterday, Angel, she's going to be okay. Gem and Glass apparently had one hell of a hangover this morning, Annie, so that what you get for letting them out on Gem's twenty-first. And I'm here for the year, Crow."

He fell silent as the Headmaster struggled back to his feet to raise a hand and silence the babble of the other students that had erupted when Shade's name had been revealed.

"Harry, my boy, where have you been all these years? We have been searching for you for a long time."

Shade opened his mouth with a cheeky grin, but it was immediately covered by several hands. Professor Snape shook his head as Shade glared at him.

"Don't even think about saying it, brat. Do you remember what happened last time? You know how much I want an excuse to get you back for that still."

He winced and nodded, and the hands were removed.

"I have been with my people, Headmaster, after two years on the streets."

"Your people?"

"Did you not hear Leaf, Headmaster? I have been with my people, my children, my Rovers. I am the leader of every tribe of Rovers in Europe and Asia. Nothing monumental happens unless that tribe has my express permission."

The Headmaster turned so white that Shade thought that he was going to pass out again.

"I have led my clan since my eleventh birthday, and they are my children."

The students around him began to snicker as yet again the Headmaster did a remarkable impression of a goldfish.

"We will be taking our leave for the night as we are not used to coming to school this early. We will see you tomorrow morning."

What that, Shade turned and began to herd his children towards that door.

"Stop! As Headmaster of Hogwarts, I forbid you from leaving!"

The Headmaster held out a hand as if to stay them, but to everyone's surprise, the main doors did not close. Professor Snape turned to look at the Headmaster with a sneer across his face.

"You no longer have the control that you so desire over the Lady. I wouldn't continue the manipulations if I were you. Some might not like it."

He turned back around and brought up the tail end of the students. As the last child passed through the doors, Shade turned and bowed, and doors closed, leaving the hall in silence.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Boy!"

The boy struggled out of his cot and into his oversized rags.

"Do not make me come in there, boy!"

"I'm coming, Uncle Vernon!"

"Don't you take that tone with me, freak! Get out here now!"

The boy stumbled down the hall to the living room where his uncle was waiting for him.

"Your Aunt is going into London today to do some shopping. You are to go with her to carry her bags. If you disobey her, it'll be the cupboard for a week! Now go get in the car!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

The boy stepped out onto the doorstep, blinking at the bright sunlight. His aunt was already in the car with the motor running.

"Get in car, boy! Be quick about it!"

The boy scrambled into the car and closed the door. The ride into London was quiet and tense. The boy looked up in confusion as his Aunt stopped at the mouth of an alley.

"Get out, boy."

He looked at his aunt.

"I said, get out!"

The boy quickly slid out of the car and hit the ground as his aunt pulled away. He looked around to get his bearings, and saw a ladder to the roof of the building next to him. He dashed for it, hoping that it would give him a vantage point to look over where he was. As he reached the ladder, though, a hand shot out of the shadows to grab his wrist. A girl unfolded herself from where she had been crouched and looked him over.

"Name, kid?"

The boy shook his head, trying to pull away from her.

"Don' talk, or don' 'ave 'un?"

"I've never been called anything but 'freak' or 'boy'."

"'ssumin tha' woman wasn' yer mum?"

"She was my aunt. My parents died when I was a baby."

"Eh, poor lad. She didn' loo' all tha' nice…"

"She isn't."

The girl looked at him and he stared back, not in the least embarrassed by her scrutiny. At last she stuck out her other hand and let go of his wrist.

"Name's Sanctuary. I'm fou'tee' as o' las' week."

"I'm four and I don't know my name."

"The' we'll have t' gi' yeh a new 'un. Wha' yeh t'ink 'bou' Shade, kid?"

"I'll take it."

"Goo'. Now come wit' me."

She pushed him up the ladder ahead of her. When he reached the top of the building, she lifted him over the side and then pulled herself over. Shade stared at the bridge system that spanned across the city.

"Wha' do yeh t'innk o' our Ci'y 'bove the Fog?"

"It's amazing…"

"T'was buil' in si' dys. Spans 'cross whole o' London proper."

"How many of you _are_ there?"

"As many as we nee'."

"Sanctuary, where do you stay?"

She blinked at the sudden change of subject and then noticed he was shivering.

"Come wit' me, I'll interduce yeh to the fam'ly."

She led him across several of the bridges to an old, rundown hotel in the darker part of London. She poked her head in the door and looked around.

"'righ', 's safe t' go in. Come on."

He nodded and gripped the tail of her top as she walked in the door, up to the counter.

"'mornin' Zen. I go' us a new'n t'day. He looks purty smart. Good fer pick'n maybe."

Shade stared at the man behind the counter with wide eyes. He was the tallest man that Shade had ever seen and he was as black as the coffee his uncle drank. The man glanced at him, looked down and then his head shot back up again.

"I've seen you! You live in Little Whinging! Your aunt and uncle are the nastiest beings ever to exist! Did they abandon you here?"

"Yes. Sanctuary found me. Why where you in Little Whinging?"

"I'm a thief. Be glad San' found you. Some of the other gangs aren't nearly so nice. You're pretty enough that you would make a good toy for their leader most likely."

"It wouldn't be the first time…"


End file.
